TAMBINO fuses cumbia and shoegaze on “Blonde Undone”
The new project from NYC-based Kam Tambini is a seamless blend of disparate styles.
NYC-based musician (and fellow music writer) Kam Tambini is launching his new project, TAMBINO, by inventing what he's sure is a new genre. "Blonde Undone," premiering above, is crackly and melancholy but underpinned by an insistent beat and built around a shamelessly poppy chorus. It is, he wrote in an email to The FADER, "a song about modern love and desire in all of its perfect/imperfect ways." It's also a combination of two very different styles: "The track mixes shoegaze guitars with cumbia percussion and dreampop-style synths. As far as I'm aware, it's the first combination of shoegaze and cumbia I've heard — cumbiagaze."
TAMBINO's self-titled debut EP is out April 7, and Tambini promises that it will "blend English/Spanish lyrics, hip-hop beats, post-punk guitars, reggaeton, and more to paint a true, diverse Nuevayorquino picture through five songs." It sounds like a lot to take in at once, but "Blonde Undone" comes together seamlessly. Listen to it below.
Thumbnail photo: Arun Pillai-Essex.